Dancing With Angels: One Last Dance
by Shiori Asuka
Summary: Sasuke looks on at Konoha, wondering why he finds it so hard to move on after leaving everything he once knew. Sasuke soon finds out that some bonds are thicker than they appear. Fate always did have a back door…


**Dancing With Angels: One Last Dance**

Author: Shiori Asuka

Title: Dancing With Angels: One Last Dance

Summary: Sasuke looks on at Konoha, wondering why he finds it so hard to move on after leaving everything he once knew. Sasuke soon finds out that some bonds are thicker than they appear. Fate always did have a back door…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters associated with the anime/manga. I own the lyrics, although if you feel the need to use them, please email me or review saying so. The lyrics are the separated words in italics.

Dedication: This story is dedicated to my sister, who, through all the good times and the bad, have helped me and made me laugh with your stupid attempts at jokes that still make me laugh to this day. Love you. It's Sasuke-centred! Gah! It really _is_ for you!

Author Note: This story… is… I don't know how to put it really. You may not find it sad, but it has taken me months to complete this and I find it touching (probably because I'm the authoress). I guess it sort of stemmed from the fact that I really think Sasuke will die in the end. I haven't actually seen that many episodes, but I have read a lot of stories and I know the general plotline, and to me, it seems that Sasuke will die. Whether or not he comes back to his senses before that remains to be seen. Enough ranting, on with the story.

Dance with them 

Sasuke looked out at his former home. To anyone but someone who knew him it would look like he was staring out into space.

For those that did know him knew this;

Uchiha Sasuke did _not_ stare into space.

As his raven eyes looked eastward at the place he once called home, he couldn't help but feel a connection with the place. He had spent a good portion of his life there. The lingering bonds that were never truly severed would always be there to terrorise him in his sleep, to take away his already fragile happiness. The bonds would never leave him, leaving open wounds, breeding grounds for complications, infections if you will, in his new life.

Wounds that wouldn't heal.

White lights of Grace 

Sasuke left that village behind him; he thought he had broken all ties. He _had_ broken all ties. He couldn't understand why he couldn't move on. He had left them, he had moved on. So then why were they still haunting him? Why did he still feel the need to watch out for them? He didn't want anything to do with them, that was in the past.

Sasuke sighed heavily, as if trying to exhale the weight of the world in one breath. Needless to say it didn't work. Their faces wouldn't leave his mind. They seemed to be permanently burned into the back of his mind, their image forever projected there, whether it be morning or night.

He was losing his grip on reality, if you could call this reality. Sasuke had come to the conclusion that he was delusional. He knew he held no feelings towards them; he couldn't. Simply because it wasn't possible in his current state.

And he sure as hell wasn't going to change any time soon.

Yet he still felt the need to go to them, the unexplainable urge to talk to them, to see them.

To be one of them…

Failing darkness 

Sasuke felt drawn to watch the village for hours on end. He would watch people go about their daily business, doing the mundane tasks that encompassed being a civilian. The boring tasks that, under a year ago, he would have gladly given up.

A year ago Sasuke would have trained instead of doing chores or low rank missions. He would have done anything to get out of the everyday tasks to train.

Now he would give up anything and everything to have to do them just once.

A year ago Sasuke was obsessed with getting power to kill his brother, to obtain his vengeance. He would train constantly to do what he saw as a compulsory life task to complete. Even if it meant the death of himself, or his friends.

He saw the power that Naruto had; he would always wonder why Naruto had such power, the _dobe_ that had more power than the Number One Rookie that Konoha had proudly produced. Sasuke had always tried to find out what hidden power Naruto held; what it was, and how he got it, he always wished he had it himself. He tried to take it once.

After that, he never tried again.

The fires of temptation 

Sasuke looked at the city he left, and wished he could take it all back. All the pain, all the hurt…

All the betrayal.

Dance with them 

Sasuke could never understand Sakura's obsession with him when all he did was turn her away. She would wait for him after class, cheer him on, care for him even when he told her not to and that he was alright. She would blow off anyone _just_ for him.

Especially Naruto.

Sakura could always be found yelling at Naruto. If you didn't know where Sakura was, look for Naruto or Sasuke. Once you found one, you found the other two. Sasuke would always be training, Naruto would be challenging Sasuke and Sakura would always be watching Sasuke and yelling at Naruto.

Sighing, Sasuke thought about what a team they made.

Team Kakashi, the team with the smartest kunoichi in the village, the Number One Rookie in all of Konoha, and the most surprising, knuckle-headed ninja.

When they were on the same team, he would ignore Sakura and look down on Naruto. Sasuke never had any time for either of them; he was an Uchiha, the elite of the Shinobi world. He thought he was too good to even need a team.

How wrong he was.

Sasuke couldn't count the amount of times Naruto had saved his life with his reckless determination and frontal attacks; the amount of times Sakura's medical training saved his life on the battlefield. Now, they were out of his reach forever. He had betrayed them, and because of that, he could never see them again. Not that they would want to see him after what he did.

_Hold onto them_

When Sakura had found out that he was leaving, she did everything in her power to stop him. She had always cared for him, so she would protect him.

He found that out the hard way.

Sakura would try not to hurt him…

But when she said she would get him back by 'any means necessary', she _meant_ any and every means necessary. It was one of the reasons he could now stand to be around her, whereas he used to use any excuse to flee her fan-girl clutches.

Neither Sakura nor Naruto ever knew how much he thought of them… Putting up with his surly-ness, his arrogance, his Avenger attitude, his self-imposed loneliness…

They must have been angels sent to him.

Sakura, with her acts of love toward him, her caring attitude, her… _everything_… gave him hope for a family, hope for true love.

Naruto, with his 'never give up' attitude, his try-harder-until-I-finally-get-it-even-thought-I-mayget-beaten-over-and-over-again style of living and his commitment to his dreams made the prestige Uchiha realise that there was always something to hope for in the future, that not all was lost for him.

That there was always a back door to fate.

_You're dreams of hope_

Now look at Naruto… Training with the most perverted, strongest, most respected shinobi, Jiraya, the toad sennin. One step closer to achieving his dream of being the Hokage.

And Sakura… She was training with Tsunade, now the Hokage… and the companion sennin, the slug-sennin, training to become a medic nin. But, in service of Konoha. Sasuke sighed. She was blind. Blind to the horrors of the place she called home. Blind to the suffering of everyone around her, blind to him. She couldn't see what was right under her nose.

Naruto…

Naruto wasn't as stupid as he made out he was. He wasn't dumb, and he was defiantly not dead last. If the Uchiha would spend some time on it, he would come to the conclusion that he was quite perceptive when he wasn't fooling everyone with his flawless baka act. He even had Sasuke fooled for a time. But, after he had left the village, Sasuke had begun to see the truths about things that he never would have thought of before.

He had been given a new perspective on things, a third person view, if you will. He saw the true side of Naruto. The powerful, smart, cunning side. The kind, caring, honest side of him. No matter what Naruto was, he was honest in everything he did. That was why he would never be suited to be Hokage. Sasuke knew what being Hokage involved, and it would be too much secrecy and lying for the blonde to actually take the job. That's why he knew Sakura would end up with the job. Naruto would wise up and do what he did and leave. Although, Naruto wouldn't leave by choice. But, in the end, Sasuke knew he would accept it. Besides, it would mean being with him again, his best friend. In truth, as selfish as it was, Sasuke was looking forward to when Naruto left and came to him. It wasn't a perfect existence, far from it and Sasuke knew it. But, to have company would be something Sasuke would embrace gladly.

But Sakura… he would do anything he could to keep her from this life, if you could call it that. As much as Sasuke denied it, he never really minded Sakura's affections. As a child and then a teenager, he had always wanted to reach out to her, but his terrifying background stopped him. He had really liked Sakura no matter how many times he turned her down. And as such, whenever she got hurt, whether it be physically or emotionally, he would always hunt down the bastard that dared hurt her and make sure he or she would know not to mess with what he considered of limits. Since she wasn't his, she was nobodies. And he would kill anyone dumb enough to go near her. That included anyone who had intentions to make her more than a friend…

_Angels of Vengeance_

That's one of the reasons he admired Naruto. He knew exactly what Sasuke was up to when he went on his 'training trips' out into the woods. And still, he would pursue Sakura relentlessly. Although, Sasuke knew that he _did_ like Sakura, Naruto had a thing for a certain Hyuuga heiress. Sasuke sighed. All this talk of his past life was depressing him. He knew he made the right choice in leaving, but… He couldn't help but think about what would have happened had he stayed. How things would have turned out differently…. What could he have changed? Would it…

_No. _He wasn't going to think on that. He really didn't want to.

_It wouldn't have changed Naruto's fate… It wouldn't have stopped the baka from leaving the village for good._

_Guide my heart_

Fate had decided for Naruto, leaving no option for any sort of escape. It simply wasn't possible. Naruto would leave the village, and he would die.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, Sakura… they would all try to talk him out of it. They would all try to stop him. Tsunade would even go so far as to stick ANBU onto him in the hopes of scaring him back.

It wouldn't work. Tsunade would ultimately fail and Naruto would leave the protection of the place he had called home for sixteen years. He would leave, and Akatsuki would utterly _destroy_ him. Even as Sasuke looked on toward Konoha, Akatsuki were beginning a surprise attack on Naruto, trying to secure the last Biju uncaptured and untouched.

But, that hasn't happened yet. None of these events have. And some of them wouldn't for another year or so. Although Sasuke was sad that Naruto had to die, he was glad for some company. Being dead was rather lonely for the Uchiha. He had no one… No one to talk to, no one to train with… No one to just _be_ with.

Sasuke wanted to warn the poor boy of his untimely demise, so that maybe he could prevent it. Unfortunately, Fate didn't let anyone interfere with it's plans. Not even Sasuke.

He could almost see Akatsuki on the horizon. He knew that Naruto was going to lose a lot of confidence in the village and himself after this fight. This was the turning point in Naruto's life. The part where he realised the village isn't what he thought it was. The time where he sees the Hokage's real position, one of cunning and lies. Hey, they never said politics was pretty. And that's what the Hokage position is, a political position obtained through strength and ability.

_Guide my heart_

Akatsuki had the upper hand now, and it was killing Sasuke. He knew that he could do anything, Naruto's future was sealed. But the blonde was going to face so much heartache after this… He was going to loose so much in the one fight; his whole life almost. It was something that, as Naruto's best friend, he never wanted to see; a broken Naruto.

Suddenly, Sasuke had an idea. One that would change everything, even Naruto's future. It was risky, and he shouldn't even be able to do it. It would take a lot of chakra, a lot of stamina, and a lot of work… but it could be done…

With his mind made up, Sasuke sped towards the village… Towards Naruto…

It took a while for Sasuke to think of the idea and it was based on a principle of Naruto's. Naruto had shown Sasuke, that there was always a back door to fate. Yes, fate had sealed Naruto's future…

But it never said anything about his past…

**OWARI**

Maybe…

Did you like it? Yes? No? It would be better with ketchup? Let me know please, and whether you would like more. This was originally a SasuSaku fic, with a concluded ending, but one statement popped out at me when I re-read this and I got a whole other storyline from it. Yes, one line.

Anywho, review if you want more! And if you don't!

Ja ne,

Shiori Asuka


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